A-State's Knighten, Taylor Claim Weekly SBC Honors

2015-11-30T20:47:57Z

Sports - ASU Red Wolves (White)

JONESBORO, AR (astateredwolves.com) — Two days after claiming the Sun Belt Conference football title for the fourth time in the last five years, Arkansas State student-athletes Fredi Knighten and Blaise Taylor were named the Sun Belt Conference Student-Athlete of the Week and Special Teams Student-Athlete of the Week respectfully in an announcement made by the league office Monday morning.

Knighten racked up a season-high 367 passing yards and accounted for three touchdowns in A-State’s 52-28 victory at New Mexico State on Saturday. The senior quarterback also added 33 rushing yards to post a season-best 400 yards of total offense and finished just 49 yards shy of equaling his career-high in the category. He averaged 15.9 years per completion and threw two touchdown passes to move his season total to 17, the fifth most in school history.

The Little Rock, Ark., native had a 75-yard touchdown completion, the longest play of the season by A-State, and added a rushing touchdown later in the game.

Taylor, a sophomore cornerback and return specialist, had a career-long 73 yard punt return for a touchdown and recorded a career-best 111 total punt return yards against the Aggies. He became the sixth player in Sun Belt Conference history to return multiple punts for a touchdown during a career and his 111 total yards were not only the third most in school history for a single game, they tied the most by an SBC player and the ninth most in the nation this season.

The Auburn, Ala., native’s 73-yard return was the second longest by a Sun Belt player this year and the longest by an A-State player since Kevin Jones had an 89-yard return against Memphis in 2007. Taylor, who also recorded his first career interception during the contest, averaged 27.8 yards per punt return yards in the game.

Arkansas State returns to action Dec. 5 against Texas State with kickoff scheduled for 2 p.m. The game represents the team’s “Senior Day” and can be viewed on ESPN3.